Al-Badr terrorist Hidayatullah 

Jammu Police has averted a major tragedy by thwarting Al Badr's - Pakistan based jihadi outfit - a sinister plot of targeting Raghunath Temple on the second anniversary of Pulwama bombing. Pakistan's nefarious design to blast Ragunath temple in the heart of Jammu city to trigger communal backlash came to light following the arrest of one Suhel from Jammu outskirts.

Yesterday evening patrolling party of Jammu Police recovered improvised explosive device (IED) weighing seven kilograms from the bag of one Suhel, who was spotted moving in suspicious circumstances in city outskirts.

"During questioning, Suhel revealed that he was studying in a nursing college in Chandigarh and for the last few weeks he was in touch with Al Badr commander - sitting in Pakistan - who had instructed him to carry out massive explosions in Jammu city," informed Dilbagh Singh, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police.

In a chilling disclosure, Suhel revealed that Ragunath temple, railway station and bus stand were on terror radar to influx maximum casualty.

"Soon after triggering explosions, Suhel was instructed to take Srinagar bound flight to checkmate security agencies here," said DGP Dilbagh Singh.

NSA Chief On Jaish's Hit List 

Besides targeting temples, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is also on terror radar of Pakistan and it's proxies.

Hidayatullah Malik, the chief of Lashkar-e-Mustafa (LeM), a front outfit of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) terror group, who was arrested on February 6 in J&K’s Jammu city, has made shocking disclosures to his interrogators sending the security paraphernalia into a tailspin, both here and in Delhi.

Following inputs by Anantnag Police, cops here in Jammu were able to nab Malik, who had been putting up in a rented accommodation in Bathindi area for quite some time. Malik during interrogation made chilling disclosure. His revelations have sent security agencies both in Delhi and J&K into a tizzy.

Dilbagh Singh told Times Now that Malik during questioning divulged that 

he had carried out a successful video recce of both office and residence of Ajit Doval, the national security advisor, in Delhi.

“On the instructions of his handler in Pakistan, Malik had videotaped both office and residence of NSA chief," informed DGP Dilbagh Singh.

To accomplish this mission, Malik disclosed that last year in the month of May he took an Indigo flight to Delhi and stayed there for few days to do a proper reconnaissance of Doval's office and residence.

Why Doval On Terror Radar? 

Doval is one of the most highly protected persons in the country. His much-publicised 'Doval Doctrine' has managed to put Pakistan in a fix over J&K. His doctrine that is a mix of stick and carrot policy has been successful enough in breaking the backbone of terror activities sponsored by Pakistan's inter-service intelligence (ISI).

He has been on the terrorist hit list because of his role in the Uri surgical strike in 2016 and the Balakot attack in 2019. 

Having kept India under pressure for at least three decades, Pakistan now finds itself in a difficulty. The surgical strike of September 2016 and the Balakot airstrike by India in February 2019 have made it clear that a terrorist attack from across the border will meet with firm retaliation.

It is this paradigm shift in India's security and military strategy that has frustrated Pakistan to an extent that they now want their proxies -jihadi outfits - to target Doval.

By carrying out a surgical strike, Doval was able to send the message loud and clear to Pakistan that if you will continue to breach Line of Control (LoC), the same will no more be considered sacrosanct by India. 

"It is because of this changed strategy Indian troops went deep inside Pakistan's territory and decimated Jaish headquarter," informs another senior security force officer.

Doval had also added to the worries of his enemies across the LoC by his masterly handling of the security situation in Kashmir in 2019 when articles 370 and 35A were abrogated and the state of J&K divided into two union territories.

Separatists and terrorists had warned of a bloodbath if India ever tried to alter the status of J&K. Concerns of a mass agitation were also voiced by some intelligence agencies before Delhi chose to go ahead with its decision to abrogate the special status of J&K. 

To the utter bewilderment of his enemies, Doval, with the complete synergy of all the security agencies, was able to ensure that not a shot was fired in the aftermath of 370 abrogation.

Malik disclosed that setbacks Jaish has received at the hands of security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir has frustrated their top leadership to great extent. They find Doval as one of the main stumbling blocks in their terror mission and therefore, they want to get rid of him.

How Big Is Hidaytullah Malik In Terror Hierarchy?

Hidaytullah Malik is one of the oldest surviving terrorists in Kashmir Valley at present. He joined Hizbul Mujahideen in 2002. The same year he went across the border for arms training. After several months of training, he infiltrated into the Indian side from the Rajouri sector along with a group of five terrorists. Being highly trained and motivated he was involved in several terror-related incidents. 

In 2006 he decided to shun the path of gun culture and therefore chose to surrender before security forces. Again in 2019 he got reactivated and started working for pan Islamic terror outfit Jaish e Mohammad (JeM). Later to checkmate security agencies he was made chief of Lashkar-e-Mustafa (LeM) frontal wing of Jaish. 

Soon after taking over reins of LeM in his hands, the first thing he tried to do was to avenge Balakot strike by carrying out Pulwama type bombing.

Fortunately, he failed in mission, as the car bomb which he had fabricated in May 2020 was timely detected and defused by security agencies.

Besides this, he looted Rs 60 lakhs from a J&K Bank van in Shopian district in 2020 to fund terror-related activities. During interrogation, he has disclosed code names and phone numbers of at least 10 terror handlers active in Pakistan. 

Presently he was camping in Jammu to set up terror base so that he can carry out terror attacks. During interrogation, Malik disclosed that he also did a recce of the international border in Samba district of Jammu division in 2019.